The Environmental Permit for Peak Resources Ltd’s planned rare earth separation plant in the UK has been granted by the Environment Agency. The permission is a significant milestone in the development of the Ngualla rare earth project and the primary regulatory hurdle required to allow the operation of the plant in Teesside.

Following the receipt of the planning permission in May this year the environmental permit is a major milestone for the project, it is the final regulatory hurdle required for the construction and the operation of the Teesside refinery in the UK. As with the planning permission the environmental permit application met with no objections through the process and the permit has been granted with expected conditions that will be discharged during the normal operation of the plant. The granting of the permit further reinforces the company’s decision to construct the refinery in the UK with its stable and mature operating environment.

Peak says “the Teesside plant is a key differentiator between Peak and other rare earth development companies” as it is the only current developer who will be able to produce saleable rare earth oxide products in-house. “This will allow the company to sell its products directly to end users and manufacturers. The Teesside plant adds significant value to the project as the separated rare earths will command a higher price than a less refined concentrate or a mixed carbonate.”

The company also advises that the issuing of Mining Licences has re-commenced in Tanzania with the newly appointed Mining Commission issuing a number of new licences and extensions to existing licences over the past three weeks. In August Peak executives met with the Commission’s Chairman, Prof Idris Kikula and its CEO, Prof Shukrani Manya, as well as the head of the Local Content Committee Dr Athanas Macheyeki to discuss the Ngualla project and the company’s pending SML application. The Chairman confirmed the Committee’s role in restoring investor confidence in Tanzania and that the Committee will work closely with mining companies and in particular Peak and the other SML applicants to achieve this. Manya added that the Commission was working as quickly as possible to clear the backlog of licence applications and that they were working to an aggressive target date set by the Minister for Minerals for the Commission to present their recommendations on the SML applications. This was also confirmed by the Minister at a subsequent meeting with the Peak executives.

Peak’s CEO Rocky Smith stated “The diligent preparation of the application and design of the Teesside plant was evident in the smooth process to acquire the environmental permit In the UK, I’m very proud of our team. The next step is the Special Mining License and we are encouraged to see the recent granting of multiple Mining Licenses in Tanzania over the past few weeks. It is evident that Tanzania is working hard to kick start the next generation of mining operations.”